I Hope You’re Still Alive When Tomorrow Comes - 19

Chapter 19: Irritating

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On the other side of the field, the girls were playing soccer. The rest of the girls who weren’t playing soccer were practicing passing and dribbling in the available space on the field. However, hardly anyone was practicing seriously. Everyone was just casually rolling the ball around while chatting with friends. 

Among those girls, I could see Nanami practicing kicking the ball. She was laughing happily with her friends. I was also practicing passes with Yano. I occasionally glanced at Nanami, getting worried about her health. Although I couldn’t see her well from this distance, but it seemed she wasn’t feeling any discomfort for now. 

She isn’t running around. This level of physical activity should be fine for her…

I thought to myself. 

“Ah! Oi! What are you doing?”

I completely ignored the pass from Yano. 

“Ah, my bad.”

Since Yano had put too much (unnecessary) force into the pass, the ball flew to the corner of the field. I gingerly chased after it and finally picked the ball after it hit the fence when…

“Tsuchiya.”

Suddenly, someone called me from behind. It was a familiar voice. A voice that irritated me. Just a moment ago, this person also called out my name in this way. 

“What?”

I turned around slowly, not eager to see his face and sure enough, there was Hiwatari.

“Do you always say things like that?”

He asked all of a sudden, cutting right to chase. 

“Huh?”

Not quite understanding what he was asking, I frowned and asked back. 

“The things you said to Nanami. Do you always tell her to just watch during physical education class?”

A deep-seated frustration crawled up from the depths of my stomach hearing Hiwatari called Nanami’s name so casually like that. 

“Yeah, I do.”

Because you won’t say anything. 

I spat out silently in my mind. 

“Were you also the one that told Nanami to not go to Yuzushima?”

He asked again, even though it seemed he already knew the answer to it. 

Sure enough, it seemed Auntie had forbidden Nanami from going to Yuzushima after that.

Well, of course Auntie won’t let her go. 

I thought to myself and shrugged. 

“No. That wasn’t me.”

I sighed before I continued on. 

“It seems her mother caught on. That must be why her mother told her not to go.”

“Caught on?”

“Yeah, the fact that Nanami was lying to  her. Nanami told her mother that she had student council activity going on weekend but she was actually planning to go to Yuzushima. Her mother caught on that lie and that must be why Nanami got scolded.”

I recalled Auntie’s expression when I told her about Nanami’s lie. It was clear to see that Auntie was fuming with anger. 

Serves her right. 

“And you were the one that told her?”

“Who? Tell who what?”

“Nanami’s mother. About Yuzushima.”

He asked again, though it sounded like he already knew the answer. 

“Yeah, I did.”

I spat out coldly before I continued on. 

“It’s her fault for lying. Given her condition, she won’t be able to enjoy Yuzushima anyway. It’s pointless.”

“Did you tell her because you thought it was impossible for her to go to Yuzushima?”

“Of course.”

Why is he asking such obvious things?

I thought to myself, irritated at Hiwatari. I looked up to see him in the face. 

“Hey, do you know?”

I asked.

“Know what?”

“About Nanami’s condition.”

“Oh. I do.”

He answered nonchalantly. 

Just from the way he answered, I knew he wasn’t lying. And it also seemed he really knew about how bad Nanami’s health was, it wasn’t like he only knew the general gist of it. 

“…And yet, you still want to go to Yuzushima with her?”

“Yeah.”

He answered calmly. There was not a trace of guilt in his voice nor his expression. 

Feeling like I was looking at something incredulous, I frowned. 

“If you knew, you also knew it’s impossible for her to go there. Why do you insist on going that far away with her?”

“I don’t think it’s impossible.”

“Huh?”

“Besides, it was Nanami that wanted to go to Yuzushima. She specifically said she wanted to go there, not to anywhere else.”

“….Well, so what? She still shouldn’t go there.”

I frowned at his response. His argument was so stupid that it wasn’t even worth arguing against. 

Well, Nanami is stupid too. 

She didn’t even consider the distance between this town and Yuzushima. She probably just said she wanted to go there willy-nilly. Yuzushima was definitely a beautiful place. The sea there was beautiful, there were a lot of stylish cafes and shops. It was the kind of place that girls would like. That must be the reason why Nanami insisted on going there. 

“You can’t just indulge her every whim. Nanami doesn’t know anything. She doesn’t know her body well or what’s going to happen if she goes to Yuzushima. She’s only wants to go to Yuzushima out of whim because she’s so foolish.”

“No. Nanami knows her body perfectly.”

“Huh?? Which part?? Because it sure doesn’t seem like it.”

Oh, I see. This guy is stupid too. Both of them are so naive. They can’t even think things through.

“Nanami was the one that planned everything for this trip. Not just the places we would go to but also how to get there, how to spend our time. She already researched how far we would walk, where to take breaks and even the nearest hospital just in case anything happened. She spent a lot of time reading the magazines, the internet and everything else. She did all the research all by herself”

“….So? What’s your point?”

Is he saying that even if something were to happen, he’s not at fault? Because everything was decided and planned by Nanami alone?

I frowned and glared at Hiwatari and yet, his expression remained unchanged. He sounded a little exasperated, like he was trying to explain a simple thing to a clueless child. 

“You know… Tsuchiya, I don’t think Nanami is as stupid as you make her to be.”

I was about to respond ,”Huh???” for the umpteenth time to his retort when suddenly…

“Nanami-chan! Are you okay?!”

A voice came from across the field. The voice of a girl filled with worry. Though the voice wasn’t particularly loud, but strangely enough, the voice reached my ears very clearly. 

I knew what was happening even before I looked. It was the kind of sceneI had gotten sick of seeing.

See? Just as I thought. 

She really is a fool.

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T/N: Gentle reminder that in this novel, we will get to see how MC grows as a person and as a decent human being with a working brain.